UK could have seven times more paedophiles than previously estimated

The National Crime Agency believes there could be seven times more paedophiles in the country than officially known. Stock image. (PA)

There could be seven times more paedophiles in the UK than previously estimated, the head of the National Crime Agency has said.

Speaking at the launch of the NCA’s annual national assessment of serious and organised crime, Lynne Owens said there could be 140,000 people with a sexual interest in children in Britain who access images online.

Previous estimates made public in late 2017 put the figure at around 20,000, but investigations into the dark web have unearthed thousands more accounts accessing the worst kind of images.

The NCA has found 2.88 million users registered on child abuse networks on the dark web, at least 5% of which – around 140,000 – are UK-based. It is not known whether each of these is one individual, or whether users have multiple accounts.

A man types on an Apple keyboard

Ms Owens said: “What we have been able to see in history is activity on the open web. Now that we have identified these 2.88 million dark web accounts, we see a very sinister pattern of offending.”

Investigators do not have the resources to go through every account.

Director general Ms Owens warned that law enforcement needs a funding boost of £2.7 billion over the next three years to keep up with changes in serious and organised crime.

She wants the agency to receive an extra £650 million per year – which would see its budget, predicted to be around £475 million for 2019/20, more than double.

Lynne Owens, Director General of the National Crime Agency, is questioned by the Home Affairs Committee in the Palace of Westminster, London.

The estimated number of offenders involved in serious and organised crime, thought to be around 181,000, is more than twice the strength of the British Army.

Ms Owens said: “Serious and organised crime (SOC) in the UK is chronic and corrosive, its scale is truly staggering.

“It kills more people every year than terrorism, war and natural disasters combined.

“SOC affects more UK citizens more frequently than any other national security threat. And it costs the UK at least £37 billion a year, equivalent to nearly £2,000 per family.

“We need significant further investment to keep pace with the growing scale and complexity.